Suburban Legends
Ice hockey!James Potter x fem!reader
Summary: James tries to teach you how to Ice Skate.
Genre: Fluff, smidge of hurt and comfort
Warnings: muggle au, swearing, James is an asshole sometimes, arguments, jealousy, insecurities
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James Potter can be a complete prick. He never means to, not really, but he can be.
You had told him you'd never been ice skating, and he had been visibly appalled. "You're dating a hockey player and you've never been skating?" he'd reprimanded, as if dating him was your one mission in life.
You'd rolled your eyes for the fifth time that day, already annoyed by his attitude, but as he ties the laces of your skates now—his shaggy dark hair falling in front of his eyes—you hide a smile.
He looks up, patting your skates, and grins. "There you go, all done," he stands and pulls you up with him. You wobble shakily on the blades, and James smiles at you fondly. A few of his friends chuckle as you hold onto his arm as he moves towards the rink.
"Honey, don't bend your ankles," he says.
You shoot him a glare. "I'm not doing it on purpose," you say, continuing to hide a smile as you hold onto him tighter, "prick." James laughs as he gently guides you out onto the rink.
The very moment your blades hit the ice, your balance becomes all wonky, and you panic, almost sliding from under James's arms. It's his turn to hide a smile as he pulls you up and glides effortlessly in front of you.
He takes your hands and slowly skates backwards as he looks down at your skates. "Okay, don't you worry, darlin', I won't let you fall," he turns to watch as his friends step onto the ice easily, "Here, look at how Lils does it."
Lily Evans skates next to you, her auburn hair falling over her shoulders, and you watch her. She looks so elegant, and jealousy sits in your stomach. You try to mimic her movements for a while with James being as patient as ever.
Occasionally, he catches you a few times so you don't fall, and you feel hopeless at this. You feel even more helpless when James's teammates and friends call out to him and ask him to skate with them.
They tease him, and he turns to them with a smirk, holding your hands, but you know he wants to join them. "You can go, Jamie, I'll be okay," you say, and you mean it. James looks unsure.
Lily adds, "I'll watch over her, Potter."
Finally, James nods and skates over to his friends. He wraps his arms around them as they act like little schoolboys on the playground. You're truly fine with James having his fun, and anyway, you don't have time to worry about him as you almost trip on your blades, and Lily catches your arm.
It feels like hours pass as your feet start to ache. You've gained a little more confidence and have moved away from the wall, but you still grip onto Lily's hand as she skates with you.
Sometimes, James sneaks up on you to twirl you around. When he does this, you smack his chest as you steady yourself and warn him not to do that again. He didn't listen, and by the third time, it wasn't funny anymore.
You really, really didn't want to fall.
Suddenly, you hear laughter before large hands grip your waist and scoop you up, higher than the previous times. James's laughter drowns out Lily's protest as you squeal. Your boyfriend turns you around, and with a little too much momentum, drops you on the ice again.
You gasp as your feet slide under him, and his smile disappears as you crash to the ground. James spreads his legs so he doesn't hit you with his blades, and you slip forward, almost crashing into the wall behind him. You hear amused laughter from James's friends.
"Shit, are you okay?" James asks quickly, his voice small, as he skates up to you again and this time helps you up with gentler hands. Your own hands hurt from the ice, and your eyes water as you feel everyone staring at you.
It was embarrassing enough to be so bad at something so important to someone you love, but this was humiliating.
Luckily, you'd fallen close enough to the exit of the rink that you could grip the wall and pull yourself out. Quickly, James is behind you as he attempts to take your hand as you walk towards the bench. Your jeans are wet, and when you sit down, you wince from how much your ass hurts.
Silently, you start to unlace your skates as the tears fall. James kneels down and covers your hands with his as he tries to stop you. "Honey, I'm sorry," he says, but you just glare at him. If he had puppy ears, they would be fully laying on his head now.
"I asked you to stop," you sniff sadly and wipe at your tears, "Why didn't you listen?"
James's heart aches, "I'm sorry," he whispers again and looks at you sincerely. "I am so sorry. That was a jerk move, love. Please, come back out onto the rink," James is begging now, and you shake your head.
"No," you say. James looks crestfallen. You look up and see that his friends have gathered around the entrance to the rink and are staring at you both. That makes you feel worse as you drop your skates and slip on your sneakers. You don't even lace them as you stand and rush out to the car.
Tears sting your eyes when you remember you'd both taken James' car and it's locked. Hopelessly, you lean against the passenger door and bury your face in your hands. A few minutes later, you hear a familiar beep as James unlocks the car.
You look up. James is carrying his skates in his hand as he walks over. His friends aren't behind him, and you feel slightly shitty as he walks up, pops open the trunk, and slides his skates inside. He doesn't speak when he closes the trunk and comes over to you. He wraps you in his arms.
You melt into his touch, cheeks burning as you press your nose into his chest. James cups your cheeks. "I'm a prick. I'm sorry. You're allowed to be mad. You told me to stop, and I didn't listen to you," he says as he strokes your hair. "Can you forgive me, lovely?"
You pull away and look at your incredibly stupid, adorable boyfriend. You want to be madder than you are, but it's so hard to be cross with James when he's wrapped his strong arms around you.
You chew on your lip, "I just wanna be good at this—like all your friends," you confess, "I thought you would like me more if I was," you finish and look away.
James frowns and takes your chin in his hand again, "What did you just say?"
You continue to chew on your lip, "You'd like me more if I was. You'd take me on cute ice skating dates, and we'd look cute and—"
James cuts you off with a loud laugh. "What are you on about, Y/n?" he runs his thumb over your lip and then kisses your nose, "Your ice skating skills have nothing, and I mean, nothing to do with why I like you. Why I love you."
Your head snaps up at the words. I love you. You hadn't said I love you yet, and your heart starts pounding in your chest. "You love me?" you whisper, wanting confirmation.
You half expect James to backpedal, to become flustered and panicked, and make up some elaborate excuse as to how his brain had forced his mouth to utter words that sounded like I love you.
Instead, he nods and cups your cheek in his larger hand, "Mmhm," he smiles fondly, "I love you." You feel warmth spread in your stomach, and all your frustration towards him disappears.
You fully melt in his arms now. "I love you too," you say after a moment, and James's shoulders visibly relax.
"I was scared you weren't gonna say it," he mutters, sounding genuinely concerned. You roll your eyes at him but lean up to kiss his mouth anyways.
"You're an idiot," you tell him in between kisses, a wide smile on your face, "But you're my idiot."
Yes, James Potter can happen to act like a complete prick, but at the end of the day, that never matters because he's yours.
Your love.
The person you love the most and who loves you the most.
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camp - @jegulus-microfic - word count: 348
When Regulus had agreed to go camping with Sirius and his mates, he had not realized what he would be signing up for.
He had anticipated idiocy and ridiculousness and liberal amounts of alcohol. He'd even thought ahead enough to realize that Sirius and Remus would be sharing a tent, which might lead to some very awkward situations. What was more, he'd even taken the time to process how torturous it would be to see James Potter shirtless, swimming at the lake by their camp site. He knew he would have to resist moaning out loud when he saw the way rivulets of water cascade over caramel skin when James dove in to cool himself off.
He was prepared for that.
But he was not prepared when Sirius announced: "Alright, guys! I'm sharing with Remus, Marlene and Dorcas, Lily and Pandora, James and Reggie!"
The announcement made him choke on his own spit. But he should have known- what with Pettigrew coming down with Dragon Pox last-minute, it made sense to put Lily and Pandora in one tent and himself and James in another (rather than the original plan of Lily sharing with Marlene and Dorcas while he shared with Pandora and James and Pettigrew bunked).
But the surprise of the announcement was nothing compared to the surprise Regulus felt when he and James actually retired for the evening.
Even though Regulus (very valiantly, he thought) behaved himself inside the tight space, keeping a foot between his sleeping bag and James's and ignoring the (he assumed) one-sided sexual tension he was feeling by squeezing his eyes shut, James did not seem to get the memo.
Because after a moment, fingertips traced so slowly over Regulus's side he might have thought he was imagining it, if not for the nervous breathing behind him. He gasped and froze, praying that this was real, and James, who seemed to be fighting against his nerves, whispered into the very thick air with a hoarse voice, "Reg? I-"
But Regulus just gathered his courage and rolled over, slotting their bodies and lips together.
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